First Flight On Mars

On April 19, NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter became the first aircraft to fly on another planet.

Our most recent package details the historic first flight of the 4-lb. robotic rotorcraft, which lasted 39.1 seconds, and its follow-up venture on April 22, and looks ahead to its future test program. The technology lays the groundwork for aerial exploration of Mars, an aeronautical feat given the air density of Mars is less than 1% of the density on Earth. See below for more.

“How do we use aerial mobility in the future on Mars, to help not just robotic exploration, but to help human exploration?”
Ellen Stofan
Smithsonian
Feb 10, 2016
India is continuing to reel in images from the red planet from its Mangalyaan mission, which was launched in November 2013.
Feb 10, 2016
Commercial capacity in lower Earth Orbit is booming, but it’s unclear what payloads will use all that’s being built up by companies such as SpaceX, United Launch Alliance (ULA), Blue Origin, Arianespace, Energia, China Great Wall and India’s Antrix.
Feb 10, 2016
European planners are looking beyond the next-generation Ariane 6 to a completely new LOX/Methane engine that would dramatically lower production costs, with or without reusability.
Feb 06, 2016
Lockheed Martin, Arab Satellite Communications Organization and King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) have completed a comprehensive technical review of Arabsat 6A and Hellas-Sat-4/SaudiGeoSat-1.
Feb 03, 2016
The economics of Arianespace’s business model do not support designing reusable launch vehicles, according to Chairman/CEO Stephane Israel.
Feb 03, 2016
By specifying the months this year in which the first flights of Long March 5 and 7 are due, CASC shows greater confidence in the development schedules for the rockets, both of which are running years late.
Feb 03, 2016
The Webb telescope has some high hurdles to surmount before it “delivers first light.”
Feb 02, 2016
What do the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and U.S. Special Operations Command have in common?